USEA News

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) in partnership with Eventing Training Online, the “Official Online Educational Partner of the USEA,” is proud to provide exclusive educational video content featuring coaching and tips from top instructors from around the world. USEA members also benefit from discounted subscriptions to Eventing Training Online, where they will have access to a complete video library of educational content suitable for beginner riders to professional trainers. Simply enter the code USEAMEMBER at checkout to receive 50% off your Eventing Training Online membership!

Red Hills International Horse Trials will be held March 8‐11, 2018, at Elinor Klapp Phipps Park in Tallahassee, Florida. In addition to celebrating its 20th Anniversary, Red Hills will be a major qualifying competition for the World Equestrian Games (WEG), which are held every two years, alternating with the summer Olympics.

“We are thrilled that our 20th Anniversary coincides with the World Equestrian Games being held in the United States,” says Jane Barron, organizer of Red Hills Horse Trials. “To be the first US qualifying event for the WEG is a tremendous honor. We are grateful to the riders, national and international eventing associations and the Tallahassee community for their continued support, enabling us to achieve this milestone.”

If a horse experiences sore heels, it can be hard for the horse to stand comfortably without pain and can lead the horse to develop worse conditions. While there are many consequences that can result from sore heels, horses with this condition are prone to develop what’s called contracted heels. Contracted heels are characterized by a narrowing of the heel between the two bulbs, the soft fleshy area where the hoof wall, heel, and coronary band come together. When this happens, it is important to provide the proper hoof support in order to manage the condition, improve hoof health, and avoid lameness.

The Young Event Horse (YEH) Program was first established in 2004 as an eventing talent search. Much like similar programs in Europe, the YEH program was designed to identify young horses that possess the talent and disposition to, with proper training, excel at the uppermost levels of the sport. The ultimate goal of the program is to distinguish horses with the potential to compete at the three- and four-star levels, but many fine horses that excel at the lower levels are also showcased by the program.

Don't let the winter weather get you down when you can use being stuck in the arena as an opportunity to fine tune your riding! In this series, we are reviving past Grid Pro Quo articles from Eventing USA to help you use the off-season to your advantage and keep you and your horse in tip-top shape for when it's time to get back out there. Click here to check out other past Grid Pro Quo exercises to spice up your arena this winter!

Mill Spring, NC - February 22, 2018 - Mark Bellissimo, Managing Partner and CEO of the International Equestrian Group (IEG) and Tryon Equestrian Partners (TEP), announced today the inaugural annual World Equine Expo™ that will include the WEQx Games™ and World Horse Day™ and will run concurrently with the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 (WEG) between September 11-23, 2018.

The collective event theme is "Celebrate the Horse, Celebrate the Sport," which honors and highlights the unique connection between horses and humans across the world. The Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) team, location of the 2018 WEG, today released its #Together video highlighting this powerful connection.

On this, the 200th episode of the USEA Podcast, we are joined by Eventing 18 Program List members Carson Richards, Sophie Tice, and Delaney Vaden, who attended the winter training sessions in Ocala, Florida and Temecula, California in January.

Carson Richards is a South Carolina native based in North Carolina for the winter, but she intends to spend the summer training with her aunt Julie Richards. Richards attended the training sessions with her 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Fernhill Mr. Cool. She spoke about her partnership with Fernhill Mr. Cool and how they’ve developed together over the last four years, including their two trips to NAJYRC, what she hoped to get out of the training session, her plans for the spring season, and her goals for the future.

Attendees at this year’s Educational Symposium returned to the Clubhouse at the Ocala Jockey Club this morning to begin the final day of the Educational Symposium with the classroom portion of the Future Event Horse (FEH) Symposium.

Irish horseman Chris Ryan kicked things off with a discussion of the importance of the broodmare in breeding event horses. “When evaluating the pedigree of the event horse, the focus usually goes to the sire line, but for me, the dam line is a more important indicator of genetic worth . . . A mare who has produced a top horse has an excellent chance of producing another, even by a different sire,” he said.

The Fitch’s Corner Horse Trials in Millbrook, New York (Area I) is held once a year in late July and offers Beginner Novice through Preliminary levels. Fitch’s Corner also hosts clinics throughout the year.

With the Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP) portion of the 2018 USEA Educational Symposium completed, attendees moved to the Clubhouse at the Ocala Jockey Club for the start of the Young Event Horse (YEH) Symposium. With many significant changes to the Young Event Horse Program being implemented this year, this year’s Young Event Horse Symposium covered the particulars of the new judging and scoring system.